Funding needed for more staff in long-term care

Recent attack points to lack of resources in homes

My heart goes out to James Acker and his family in the wake of the awful attack he endured in his room at St. Joseph’s Villa longterm care facility at the hands of another resident. Undoubtedly, fingers will be pointed at the front-line staff on duty that evening for failing to protect him, when in fact the problem begins at the unseen level of underfunding both from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and from the corporations that operate their nursing homes as businesses. This could very well have been my own father, or your own mother.

When my aging and exhausted mother could no longer care for my father in their home, and their CCAC support hours were maxed out, our family made the heartbreaking decision to move Dad into long-term care.

Although the staff there did their best to care for him with kindness and compassion, the harsh realization soon set in that Dad would not be getting “better care” or “more care” than Mom could provide at home. How could he, with only one registered nurse assigned to the entire 169-bed facility, and a mere three personal support workers for each 30-plus bed unit?

At any given time, two of those PSWs might be working to change the diaper of a bed-bound resident, and the third could be bringing people one by one to the dining room for mealtime. How often, then, can one expect a loved one to be checked on, talked to, walked with, stimulated mentally, or given personal attention?

When one of us wasn’t able to be there with him, Dad spent much of his time parked in the hall in a wheelchair, sitting alone in his room, or staring blankly at a TV in the common room with numerous other seniors. It didn’t take long for him to fade away from us and this world. No, the care he had at home with Mom was undoubtedly better … but at what cost to our mother’s own health? Families everywhere face this dilemma with elderly loved ones daily.

Although Mr. Acker’s attack might not have been preventable with more staff on duty, don’t our aged mothers and fathers deserve more than a smattering of workers to attempt to meet their myriad needs? And I’m talking emotional and social needs, not just the physical needs of bathing, toileting and feeding.

As I read through the residents’ Bill of Rights as set out in the guide to the LongTerm Care Homes Act of 2007, one of the rights struck a chord with me: “Every resident has the right to receive care and assistance toward independence based on a restorative care philosophy to maximize independence to the greatest extent possible.”

What might this look like in practice? According to Community Legal Education Ontario, it means “you have the right to participate in programs at your long-term care home that can help you keep or improve your independence. For example, you might be able to do exercises, play games, make crafts, and take part in other activities that are available. You have this right even if you have cognitive disabilities.”

Doesn’t it stand to reason that the more seniors are engaged with other people and conversed with as humans, the number of incidents of resident aggression and violence might drop? But how can these rights truly be upheld and honoured when staff-to-patient ratios can’t possibly support it? These “rights” then become little more than lip service.

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, as well as the for-profit nursing homes, need to allocate more funds for the purpose of increasing the number of staff working directly with residents. After a lifetime of caring for us, don’t we owe our seniors that same level of care in their final years?

… how can these rights truly be upheld and honoured when staff-to-patient ratios can’t possibly support it?